Red airlock cap flew off last night.

[xellios]

So I woke up this morning and the red cap on my airlock was missing and there is now considerable amounts of wort and foam in the airlock and on the lid. I just placed the red cap back on and it flew off again within minutes.

Should I rinse out the whole airlock and reattach it or just leave it?

 

[cheezydemon]

It sounds like you should have used a blow off tube.

I would switch to a blow off hose until the krausen has fallen back. In case you don't know what one is, it is a hose stuck into the hole where the air lock is now, running into a bucket of sanitizer.

Clean your air lock off and put it back when the foam stops going into the hose.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Think of your airlock as a one-way valve...exit only...the lack of the red cap (assuming it's a 2 piece, 4 bubble bubbler) is nothing to worry about.

The clear 3 piece one keeps the center floating cap from being pushed out by the O2.

 

[xellios]

Hey, thanks a lot for your replies. I switched to a blow off and everything seems fine now.

 

[jmiracle]

you're supposed to leave that cap on? I just leave it off normally, what's the worst that can happen, bacteria fall in the vodka?